Trials of Budding Love
by shizuogirl
Summary: Kurama's feelings for his long-time, human friend Akahana makes their friendship bloom into something much stronger. However, their love brings many trials. Kurama x OC.
1. Love Blossoms :: 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho! _But, if I did..._

Yu Yu Hakusho © Funimation.

Please enjoy!

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><p>The sun was just setting, and the sky's colors melted together perfectly. The trees swayed gently in the wind, and their fallen leaves swirled around on the grass in a slow dance to an unheard of melody. Akahana let out a soft sigh, a secret longing set aflame by the romantic setting. If only this wasn't a meeting between friends.<p>

She turned her head to shift her gaze to the silent Kurama, red locks swaying in the rhythm of the nature surrounding them. His gaze too was lost in a dreamlike stare over the sunset, the beauty of the park, then as he noticed her gaze, his then became locked onto and lost in her own eyes.

"Kurama?" she asked, hesitant. He snapped out of whatever trance had snared him, a grin spreading across the line of his lips. Oh, those lips.

"Sorry, Hana." A pink tint brushed over his pale cheeks, his gaze quickly moving to the ground as if it were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. Her steady hand reached out to gently touch his shoulder, and he again looked up and into her eyes.

"You've been acting...weird lately," she finally confronted his odd behavior, not sure how to describe it other than weird.

When Kurama had asked Akahana to go to the park with him earlier, she had been simply overjoyed. Not that it was a date that she had been longing for, but she had been itching to confront him about the sudden distance between them- the mental wall he had built up. They no longer sat together at lunch, smiled at each other during class, he wouldn't even look at her with the same warmness. Instead his warm, friendly facial expressions had turned to occasional blank stares and their frequent, engaging conversations had sifted into the ash of what it once was, becoming nothing more than quick 'Hello's and 'How are you?'s in the hallways during passing period. She could feel their friendship slipping through her grasp, and she wasn't sure what caused it, or how this could be confronted.

"I've had a lot on my mind lately." One of his hands absent-mindedly rose to run through his red velvet hair, as if combing the knot-free main would do anything to put his thoughts into words. If anything, the gesture simply made her worry more. She was aware of his latest work. She'd heard hundreds of stories about the spirit detective's adventures, and she wasn't blind to the fact that he was starting to miss school more and more frequently due to the strenuous assignments. In fact, some of the spirit detectives had also become friends of hers within the past few months, and she felt her bond with them was growing even closer as his bond with her faded away. He had just as much time away as they did, yet their relationship had continued to deteriorate. As a human, part of her even felt left out, but she knew better than to think she would be left behind in his footsteps merely due to that sad fact, seeing that Kuwabara was a detective, albeit human, and Keiko's relationship with Yusuke was stronger than ever. Had she done something wrong? It bewildered her, but now was the time to confront him.

"About what?" she finally asked, watching his facial features for any hints. In the strangest of gestures, one of his hands moved to grab one hers, holding it within his firmly. The softness astounded her, with that whip of his she'd figured they'd be calloused by now, and the warmth sent tingles through her nerves. The oddness of it distracted her to mask the motion of his other hand, moving to cup her right cheek, thumb gently brushing back one of her blond tresses. Akahana's cheeks became warm as her gaze went down to their entwined hands before rising to look into those intent, emerald green eyes of his. It took her a moment to realize that the distance between them had decreased just now, causing her cheeks to warm. She blamed the chilly air.

"About you. I can't help it anymore, Hana." Kurama's voice was barely a whisper as he leaned in to grant her something she'd only ever daydreamed about. They kissed. It was slow, sweet, yet confident- and it was definitely enjoyed on both ends. After a few moments of letting their lips mingle for the first time, they slowly pulled back the slightest bit, each feeling the other's breath as they stared into each other's eyes quietly.

His eyes revealed everything. They answered every question that she had for him prior to this evening. Fulfilled any doubt about her feelings for him. They spoke without hesitation, throwing what had been a touch exterior to the wind. She knew he cared about her with that one look. That he longed for her. That he loved her.

Hana felt foolish for not noticing this before, but she was still confused about his actions for the past weeks. Why had he been so afraid of speaking his feelings? Why had he put himself at a distance? He was her best friend.

When she found her voice, she confessed; "Kurama, I love you. I always have. I-I think I understand why you've been so distant, and I understand, but-" His eyes widened a little in surprise before softening with his smile. Oh, that smile. Oh, those lips, those eyes… She couldn't help but stop speaking to simply look at him, knowing he got the just of what she was saying. He wouldn't have allowed her to speak further anyways, moving in quickly to let their lips press together for the second time that day, his arms moving around her waist as the passion of the second kiss came through. Her lips gladly responded to the loving kiss, as did her arms as they moved to loop around the back of his neck. If he wouldn't have spoken afterwards, she could've taken what feeling he put into the kiss this time and already have known his reply.

When they did pull away, her breathing was slightly labored, their foreheads pressed together this time around, "I love you, Akahana. I won't run from my feelings again, I swear to you." She smiled, taking it upon herself to lean up and plant a kiss on him once more, short and sweet, yet meaningful all the same.

"I'm glad. I've missed you." Kurama and Akahana stayed like this for a while before a slow, sly smile spread onto the fox's face. Something was amusing him.

Akahana slipped her forehead away from his, raising an eyebrow at him,"Something funny?" she asked quietly, as her head slid onto his shoulder, nuzzling the side of his neck. He nodded.

"We're being watched." He whispered in reply, slipping his arms off of her to gesture over to their right. She giggled rather childishly at their sight. Their friends had no sense of privacy.

Five heads were popping out of the side of a nearby tree, their eyes on you two as quiet snickering and giggling where heard. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Keiko, and Botan were all there, in order, the latter two whispering amongst themselves. Yusuke smirked smugly before breaking up their giggling; "I told you so."

Hiei added his input, with a confident, "Hn. I didn't think you would have the guts, Fox. Apparently I was wrong."

Kuwabara laughed obnoxiously, "Pay up, Shorty!" Hiei muttered some unintelligible threat in reply.

Akahana and Kurama turned towards them, then each other, both smiling. Kurama shook his finger at them, "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Snail vine that wrapped around the bark of the tree they had been hiding out behind moving to tend to their arms and legs, holding them in place as complaints rose and threats were muttered, making Hana laugh softly, "Kurama, that wasn't very nice." He shrugged a little before smiling and kissing one of her cheeks, one of his arms wrapping around her shoulder as he replied with a short laugh.

"Perhaps they shouldn't invade our privacy next time… The vines will let go eventually. Shall we?" She nodded and their walked quite a ways, to the end of the park, talking, laughing, and smiling just like old times- only better.

Once the sun had finally melted out of their view and the lamps lining the path kicked on, Kurama stopped her, holding her in his arms once more. "You should be getting home, I'd bet your parents are wondering where you are."

She sighed softly, looking up at him with a childish pout, "Must I? Will you walk me…?"

He half-heartedly smiled down at her before shaking his head regretfully, "I would love to, but I have business with Koenma to clear up… I will see you tomorrow, however."

She smiled in reply and nodded, finding that to be more than agreeable, "Alright. Good night, Kurama." They kissed once more, melancholy this time, not wishing for the beautiful evening to come to a close. In all ways, it had been perfect in both of their opinions.

As she walked away, the red-haired fox seated himself at a park bench, collecting his thought before he would have to get back to spirit detective business. He produced a single red rose in one of his hands, twirling it slowly as he admired its beauty, letting its scent tickle his nose.

"My Akahana, my beautiful red rose. So beautiful, so sweet… Very fragile." He added the last part with a sigh.

The rose was left on the park bench alone that night as the kitsune raced off to tend to his duties.


	2. Late Night Visitor :: 2

A soft gush of the chilly night air brushed against Akahana s face, waking her up with a start. She didn t remember leaving her window open, but the fact that it was open right now was a nuisance.

Slightly grumbling, she got up and went to shut the window in her half-asleep, zombie-like state. She rubbed the sleep form her eyes before reaching out and shutting the window that stood wide open, pulling down the lower pane and putting the latch in its proper place to lock it. Turning back around to face her bed, she groggily walked to the edge and sat down, looking at her alarm clock. 2:00 AM. Groaning, Hana started to climb back into her bed only to find a pair of golden eyes staring intently at her. Silver hair swept over the male figure s chiseled shoulders, reaching down to his mid-back. His expression was sly and a very familiar fox-like grin was chiseled into those beautiful lips.

"Y-Youko! It s two in the morning!", she scolded the kitsune quietly, so as not to wake her parents up. He playfully frowned before pulling her under the covers and firmly up against his chest, then wrapping his arms around her. His mouth came up behind one of her ears, lightly nibbling on its lobe.

"I was lonely," he whispered, his warm breath sending a tingling feeling down along her neck. Figures. The demon side of Kurama had always been the half with a selfish streak; however she herself was very insistent on the matter.

"Well, _I'm_ going back to sleep," she countered stubbornly, pulling up her comforter to re-cover herself. He made a soft whiney noise, but seeing no room for compromise, he adjusted her so her head lay on his chest and lower shoulder instead of on her pillow. She grinned and cuddled close to him, savoring the sweet heat his body gave off.

"Goodnight, Youko." she whispered, lips against his torso as she closed her eyes to fall back asleep.

"Goodnight, my rose." he replied, pressing a firm kiss to her forehead and brushing a few strands of hair from her face as she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
